Barbados staff in Brussels safe

As Belgium grapples with two separate terrorist attacks in its capital Brussels, Barbadians are being assured that the members of staff of the Barbados Mission in that European

city are safe.

 

Word of this has come from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, who said that she received word from the High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Guy Hewitt, that members of the mission in nearby Brussels are “all ok”.  

 

She made the comments yesterday morning before commencing an address at the opening ceremony of the Sixth Round of Caribbean-China Consultations at the Hilton Barbados. At the start of the ceremony, a moment of silence was held for the lives lost in those attacks. 

 

Reports are that three bomb blasts occurred yesterday morning – two at the city’s international airport and one in a subway station in the city, close to the headquarters of the European Union. The bombs killed over 30 persons and wounded in excess of 200. The airport attack is said to have been carried out by a suicide bomber.  

 

The Barbados Embassy is located in the heart of the city, for which the authorities have raised the threat level to the highest possible level. Following the blasts, all flights to and from Brussels Airport were cancelled indefinitely.

 

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks.